Political Eye’s mention of attorney and activist Eric Vickers regarding inclusion of minorities in sizeable construction projects needs to mention the Workforce Development Agreement provision (sponsored by Sen. Bond, Sen. Obama and Rep. Costello) of the 2005 SAFETEA-LU Highway Act worth $286 billion.
This was needed because: 16 percent of all children in both Illinois and Missouri live in poverty; according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for youth enrolled in college was 20 percent in October 2004; over the next 10 years, there will be a 40 percent shortage of construction workers in Missouri. There is a shortage of 9,000 construction workers currently in St. Louis.
Therefore, President Bush signed the bill into law as an act of Congress in August. Bid specifications must include: 1) one half of (one half of 1 percent) federal workforce development money to support apprentice training, and the other one half (one half of 1 percent) to provide incentive for contractors and unions to use apprentices. 2) Of all work hours completed a) 30 percent by apprentices; b) 30 percent by residents of census tracts where 30 percent of residents are below the federal poverty line (or eligible to get earned income tax credit); c) 23 percent to 50 percent by local residents; d) 25 to 50 percent by minorities; e) 10 percent by women. 3) All parties to be in a regional data base that tracks demographics of all workers, apprentices, and applicants with data reported to a community jobs board that meets monthly. 4) A quarterly review of compliance to be done and fines of 5 to 10 percent on non-compliant contractors.
It is the sense of Congress that federal transportation projects should facilitate and encourage the collaboration between interested persons – including state, federal, and local governments, community colleges, apprentice programs, local high schools, and other community-based organizations – to help leverage scarce training and community resources and to help ensure local participation in the building of transportation projects.
Joseph J. Kuciejczyk Jr.
St. Louis